Star Wars can often be accused of over-explaining any mysteries remaining during the Skywalker Saga, but for fans, there’s one loose thread that they can’t help picking at.
Solo: A Star Wars Story introduced the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate, which appeared to be led by Paul Bettany’s Dryden Vos with Emilia Clarke as his trusted lieutenant Qi’ra. However, the movie made a shocking revelation in its credits scene; the true power behind the operation is none other than Darth Maul, last seen in live-action being chopped in half in The Phantom Menace and plunging to his death.
This was clearly intended to be sequel bait, but after Solo‘s unexpectedly disappointing box office performance, Lucasfilm has shown no indication of following it up. Fans still want a resolution, and surely there’s space in the Disney Plus lineup:
It’s worth mentioning that the Star Wars comics have provided some broad developments on the story. By the time of the original trilogy, Maul had been killed (for good this time) by Obi-Wan in Star Wars Rebels, and we’ve seen that Qi’ra is the new big boss. Even so, fans clearly want answers on how Maul’s story shook out after Solo:
We’d love to see more of Emilia Clarke in Star Wars too:
For some, Darth Maul appearing here (which seems to have been very a late addition to the movie) just confuses things:
Fans of the animated shows will know how Maul got his groove back (also his legs), but regular audiences can be forgiven for being confused:
Perhaps Ray Park’s somewhat erratic behavior on social media doesn’t help matters:
And by this point many are beyond caring:
At one point, The Book of Boba Fett was going to tie off this storyline strand. That show’s Pyke Syndicate was a powerful galactic criminal enterprise roughly in line with the Crimson Dawn, so hopes were high that Clarke might reprise her role and finally give us some post-Solo answers.
That didn’t happen, and right now Disney and Lucasfilm seem eager to pretend Solo didn’t happen and there’s next to no chance of a sequel. Judging by some of these fan comments, maybe that’s for the best.